There are croc tails and croc tales

The supposed sighting of a crocodile near Noosa Heads has prompted panic among tourism operators. But Damien Ryan reports that crocs at large are part of life in the north.

Migration is a constant state of affairs for humans and animals, especially in Far North Queensland. David Williamson's 1979 play Travelling North captured the early drift to the tropics by humans and while the cane toads relentlessly hop around Australia, crocodiles have started travelling south.

Of course, there is some debate over whether crocodiles really live as far south as Noosa, or did someone put some of them there? Or, for that matter, has anyone ever seen them in that vicinity at all?

Further north, however, where crocodiles are common, there's a much more cynical view: you can't buy that kind of publicity. In fact, crocodile reports are part of life in the tropics and in Far North Queensland and nearly everybody has a story.

A Cairns taxi driver picked up a young crocodile in the street late one night recently. It had apparently strolled up from the mangroves and lost its way. The driver didn't panic, though. Seeing an eye for the main chance, he called the media straightaway.

Taxi drivers in the tropics seem to have encounters with crocs quite a lot. Maybe it's because taxi drivers move about at night and all of them have tall tales of reptilian encounters for passing tourists.

One driver tells of the surprise he got while approaching Cairns airport in the early morning hours when he came upon a crocodile in the middle of the road. He called it a speed hump for newly arrived visitors he takes back from the airport.

Crocodiles are seen around Cooktown all the time. Last year someone walked into a pub to announce there was a big one under the boat ramp just across the road. No one even bothered to put down a beer to go outside to have a look.

Cooktown locals tell of how a team of university researchers diving on the Great Barrier Reef were interrupted by a beast seizing one of them by the foot. The scientist had the presence of mind to grab it by its front legs to prevent it from swimming and the pair parted company without injury.

There are tragedies, of course, like the fatal attack on a German tourist at Kakadu last October. These are despite warning signs on every stretch of water. Even if you can't read, the picture of those gaping jaws circled in ominous red make the danger clear and present.

In the Northern Territory, a park ranger spotted a young mother on holiday bathing her two-year-old child in a lagoon. He told her a large crocodile lived in the lagoon. She said she wasn't worried as the toddler had been bathing there every day for a week.

Last year a small croc and a small child met just a few metres off the beach at Port Douglas, north of Cairns. The child was badly scratched and badly frightened. Locals said the animal got a bigger fright.

In the Kimberley region of Western Australia a group of young German tourists was swimming in a waterhole and a few small freshwater crocs were sunning themselves on the opposite bank. A tour guide had told the swimmers not to disturb the locals. And yet, believe it or not, one of the swimmers poked a crocodile with a stick and was bitten.